How Calif. County Spent $538 Million in CARES Act Funding

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(TNS) — Test kits, hospital supplies, office renovations, hot meals, emergency housing and laptops for schoolchildren were among the items Riverside County bought with $538 million in federal coronavirus relief funding.

A report on the Board of Supervisors’ Tuesday, June 28, agenda outlines how the county used its allocation of CARES Act money. The funding, approved by Congress and signed by President Donald Trump in March 2020, was part of a $2.2 trillion stimulus bill that came at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States.

As America’s 10th most-populous county, Riverside County received $431 million directly from the CARES Act. Another $56 million was funneled through the state and $51 million came from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Here’s a breakdown of how the $531 million was spent:

The biggest chunk — $376.4 million or roughly 70% — went to what the county calls “response and preparation.”This includes the purchase of personal protective equipment, county hospital supplies, COVID-19 testing supplies and lab costs, vaccine-related costs, contact tracing expenses, renovating county buildings for social distancing and 1.3 million meals for seniors provided by restaurants through the Great Plates program.The category also includes $7 million for Project Roomkey, which paid for emergency housing for more than 900 homeless people, about a third of whom later moved into permanent housing.
$54.7 million — 10% — went to “housing and workforce solutions.” This includes $30 million to help more than 5,700 households avoid eviction and $11 million to help children with distance learning, including the purchase of laptops and internet hotspots.
$53.6 million — 10% — went to “business and community services.” Most of this helped struggling small businesses stay open. More than 5,000 businesses received grants through this effort.
$31 million — 6% — paid for equipment, training, testing and cleaning costs in congregate care facilities such as nursing homes.
$22.7 million — 4% — supported 17 acute-care hospitals in the county.

The county has spent all of its CARES Act money. But it is getting $479 million from the second round of federal COVID-19 relief known as the American Rescue Plan. In general, the county plans to use that money for one-time expenses and construction projects and not for ongoing expenses in the new budget, which takes effect July 1.

As of Monday, June 27, Riverside County has recorded more than 632,000 cases of COVID-19. More than 6,500 county residents have died from the virus. About 59% of county residents have received two vaccine doses with 29% receiving booster shots.